


just step into your sneakers

by anuk_ite



Series: sneakers 'verse [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, also let's be real liam is oblivious af, preslash, set in the first couple minutes of 6x12, what was theo doing during the day?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 18:31:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11926746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anuk_ite/pseuds/anuk_ite
Summary: Liam doesn't think much of it at first. Scott had told him it was just a dog, after all.





	just step into your sneakers

**Author's Note:**

> What was Theo Raeken doing during the days? Well, here's an idea. 
> 
> Title from Fitz and the Tantrums' _Roll Up._

“Thanks for the ride, Scott.”

“No problem, Liam.” Scott threw the Jeep into park. “Be careful, okay? I’d go with you, but I have to get back to the clinic.”

“I’ll be fine, Scott.”

“If you don’t swing by the clinic before ten o’clock, I’m going to come looking for you.”

“I said I’ll be _fine_.”

“And stick to the trails, okay? Avoid the old Hale house, too.” Scott’s mouth twisted. “You know, maybe this isn’t the best place to go running. We can go back to Beacon Hills proper, and you can stick to the roads.”

“Scott!” Liam hopped out of the car before Scott could put the Jeep in reverse. “I appreciate the worry, but I can handle myself.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Go to work, Scott.” Liam closed the car door—gently, because if Stiles came back and found his Jeep broken, there would be hell to pay—and trotted towards the trailhead, pausing beside the sign reading _Beacon Hills Preserve_ to wave at Scott as his alpha pulled out of the parking spot.

His eyes caught on a blue pickup parked at the far end of the lot. He frowned. He’d seen it somewhere before, he was sure.

Scott rolled down the window and leaned out, distracting Liam. “Be safe, okay?”

“Go to work, Scott!” Liam yelled back, and rolled his eyes when Scott hesitated a moment before shifting the Jeep into gear.

The sun had just begun to filter through the branches. The last two weeks before school started were always the hottest; right now, the Preserve would still be cool, but another couple hours and even Liam’s thin t-shirt would be too much.

He crouched to retie his shoe, and when he looked up again, there was an animal far in the distance, staring at him. When he blinked, it trotted off, quickly hidden behind the trees.

It was probably just a dog. Plenty of people in Beacon Hills had dogs, and most of them were big enough to be that one. Liam stood, stretched out a little, and started running, pushing the dog to the back of his mind.

Malia had been the one to suggest running. She’d told him, in clipped, no-nonsense words, that exercise helped her control her shift—before the full moon happened, at least—and she liked the Preserve because she loved feeling closer to her territory or something. Liam hadn’t questioned it.

She’d been right. The smell of sun and growing things, the crunch of last year’s leaf litter under his shoes, the slight breeze on his face—it was incredibly relaxing, and Liam lost himself in the feeling of his legs burning as he pushed himself harder, the miles disappearing under his feet. He blasted past a startled soccer mom and a disgruntled middle-aged man, amongst a dozen other Beacon Hills residents, and once he was out of range of any heartbeats, he paused to take a break.

He bent over, breathing hard, and when he stood up to roll out his neck and shoulders, there it was again, a little closer now: a massive, long-furred dog, so darkly colored that Liam could only tell it was brown because of the sunlight limning the fur around its head and ears.

At that distance, Liam couldn’t tell what color its eyes were, only that it was staring at him, ears pricked and head tilted just the slightest bit.

When he blinked again, it was gone.

* * *

 

“Hey, Scott?” Liam opened the door of Deaton’s clinic with a shoulder, knowing full well that it was empty aside from Scott and half a dozen dogs and cats.

The run back to the clinic had been shorter than expected, but he was still drenched in sweat by the time he’d gotten there a little after 9:30.

“In the back,” Scott called back, and Liam shoved his way through the swinging flap and made his way back to the sole examination room.

Scott looked up from a cardboard box, taking in the way Liam’s hair was plastered to his forehead. “How was your run?”

“Good. Great. Um, actually, something was bothering me.” Liam paused. “Wait, are those puppies?”

“Yeah, they were left in this box outside the front door. Sucks, but it happens a lot.” Scott picked up one of the puppies and examined it carefully. “They appear pretty healthy, but Deaton wanted me to take a look at them before he did, just for practice. What’s up?”

“Uh—oh yeah.” Liam peered over the lip of the box. “That’s a lot of puppies.”

Scott sighed. “Yeah, Liam. Labradors can have up to twelve puppies at once.”

“They’re kinda cute.”

“Yeah.” Scott set it down, watching Liam patiently while the beta struggled to string words together. The puppy’s siblings nosed at it briefly as it waddled towards the small water dish in the corner.

“Is there anyone you know of, in Beacon Hills, that has a big dog? Like, this big?” Liam asked, a hand at his hip.

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” Scott said. “I’ve seen at least half a dozen dogs that big this week.”

“Um, it’s like, got pointed ears? And its fur is like, dark brown, and it was really, really fluffy.”

“Probably. There are a lot of breeds that look like that. Why?”

“I saw a dog like that when I was out running, and I thought it might’ve been a wolf.” As soon as it was out of his mouth, Liam cringed, aware of just how paranoid it sounded.

Scott’s other eyebrow went up. “You know that there are only three people we know of who can full-shift, Liam. Derek Hale, Theo, and Malia. Derek’s out of town, Malia isn’t even a wolf, and—”

“—Theo isn’t dumb enough to go running the Preserve with everyone out and about,” Liam finished, to which Scott shrugged as if to say _yeah, that’s what I was going to say._ “Yeah. I just, um, wanted to make sure.”

“Keep an eye out for it, though,” Scott said, a weird tone in his voice. “Let me know if anything happens, okay? Satomi’s pack does live pretty close, and it might be one of theirs—we don’t exactly keep in contact.”

Liam narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t a lie, Scott’s heartbeat confirmed that, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either. And Scott didn’t have any reason to lie to him, right? “Sure, Scott,” he said. “I’m going to head home and shower.”

“Please do!” Scott called as he headed out of the clinic. “You smell awful!”

* * *

 

 “Dude, you’re such a freak,” Mason said. When Liam looked at him, affronted, Mason held his hand up, not taking his gaze away from the road, despite the complete lack of other cars. “I meant about running! It’s so _freaking_ early. Literally everyone else is sleeping in. When I asked Corey if he wanted to come he flipped me the bird and started snoring. I’m not even talking about the wolfy bit, honest.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

Mason sighed through his nose and turned into the parking lot of the Preserve. “You need to get your license, buddy.”

“I already have it.” When Mason turned a skeptical brow on him, Liam rolled his eyes. “What is _with_ that expression? I do, I have it, but my parents won’t let me drive any of the cars.”

“Sure.” Mason flicked the turn indicator and pulled smoothly into the Preserve’s parking lot. “Alright, go, have fun being freakishly athletic, don’t get killed, all that.”

“Yeah, Scott said that about a thousand times yesterday.” Liam rolled his eyes and got out of the car.

Before he could slam the door, though, Mason said “Wait.”

“What?” Liam glanced at Mason, who was staring at something beyond the trailhead, wide-eyed.

“Isn’t that a wolf?” Mason hissed, fear radiating off of him in waves.

Liam looked where Mason was pointing, frowning when he saw the same dog as yesterday. “No,” he said slowly. “Scott told me it was a dog.”

Mason relaxed minutely. “Did Scott see it? Because that is one damn big dog.”

“No, but I trust Scott, and I think he went patrolling last night. If it was a problem, he would’ve taken care of it.”

“Okay,” Mason said, clearly uneasy but no longer outright afraid.

“Go, I’ll be fine,” Liam said, and Mason nodded, not taking his eyes off the dog.

“Yeah, sure.”

It was maybe fifty yards away; Liam didn’t take his eyes off it as Mason drove away, slightly faster than strictly legal. It stared at him for a moment longer and started walking away, head lowered. 

* * *

 

He stopped a lot more during his run that day, much to the consternation of the slower-but-steadier runners. He kept seeing flashes of movement out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned his head he saw the dog darting between the trees, almost like it was keeping pace with him. But when he stopped and really looked for it, it was never there. 

* * *

 

“Are you sure it’s not a wolf?” Liam asked Scott. “Because Mason was pretty damn sure it was a wolf.”

“It’s not a problem, Liam,” Scott said, and refused to say anything else about it. 

* * *

 

The next day, Scott dropped him at the Preserve again, and didn’t bother to give Liam the spiel about being careful and all that, which Liam figured had something to do with how the dog appeared shortly after the Jeep left the parking lot.

“Hey,” Liam called softly, watching how the dog’s ears swiveled towards him, despite how the dog was resolutely staring into the forest.

The blue pickup was there again, but Liam spared it the barest of glances before trotting towards the dog, who looked at him and skittered a couple steps further away.

“Okay, I get it,” Liam said, bending his knees so he was eye level with the dog and stretching out a hand. The dog huffed, the skin around its muzzle twitching with the gesture, and swung its head back towards the trail.

 _Let’s just get this over with_ , it seemed to say, and for whatever reason Liam imagined it as having Theo’s voice, even though it wasn’t a werewolf and couldn’t speak.

“Chill,” Liam said. The dog looked at him and chuffed again, as if to say _Whatever, dude_ , and Liam laughed, startled. “Either you’re really smart for a dog or you’re just doing the right things at the right times, ’cause that’s kind of weird,” he muttered.

It heaved a sigh and glanced towards the trail again.

“Fine, we can go now,” Liam said, and started jogging.

The dog fell into step with him.

They passed about half a dozen people before someone commented on it. “Your dog’s so cute!” she called as they approached, a water bottle in one hand. “But dogs are supposed to be leashed in the Preserve.”

“It’s not my dog,” Liam said, slowing. “It just likes to run with me.” The dog huffed in agreement, tongue lolling out of its mouth, showing off wickedly sharp, bright white teeth as it glanced up at Liam.

“Then you should report it,” she said, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder. “If you say something to the vet, he’s supposed to do something about it.”

The dog growled briefly, a sound that raised the hairs on the back of Liam’s neck. “I did,” Liam said, ignoring the girl’s startled “What?” as he picked up the pace again.

* * *

 

“Was the dog there again?” Scott asked, when Liam checked in on his way home.

“It’s weirdly smart for a dog,” Liam said.

Scott hummed, still fussing over the puppies. “Deaton seems to think that dogs can be just as smart as people, if not smarter. After all, dogs can understand a lot of what normal people don’t.”

Liam noted the purposeful omission of _werewolves_. “Not what I meant,” he said.

Scott raised his eyebrows.

“I meant it’s like, human-smart,” Liam said. “It made noises like it understood what I was saying.”

“Dogs can’t understand human speech.” Another not-quite-lie. Liam narrowed his eyes—Scott wasn’t saying something, but Liam somehow knew that no matter how hard he pressured the alpha, he wouldn’t bend.

“Um, sure,” he said instead. “Hey, I was hoping to add a little more distance, but I don’t know the trails all that well—any suggestions?”

Scott smiled like everything he was planning was falling into place, but what he was planning, Liam had no idea. “Try looping up over the river, it adds another two miles onto your run. The trail’s pretty nice.” 

* * *

 

Liam knew what Scott was talking about—he’d noticed the signpost before, but hadn’t really thought about it that hard. The dog was there again the next day, standing calmly at the trailhead.

The blue truck was there again, parked in the same spot as always. All the other cars switched spots daily, but the truck was always there, at the far end of the parking lot. It was probably someone who got there a lot earlier than Liam did; no need to devote too much energy to keeping an eye on it.

“Hey, buddy,” he said. “You know, I keep thinking that you’re somebody I know—or, well, knew. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

The dog huffed at him, as if to say, _Who, me?_

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Liam sighed. “Still, I need to call you something, I can’t keep calling you ‘that dog.’”

The dog stayed silent. _Sure you can_ , it seemed to say.

“I think I’m going to call you Theo,” Liam announced, and the dog shifted its weight uncomfortably. “You kind of remind me of him. And also because there’s this chocolate factory in Seattle called Theo’s Chocolate that my stepdad likes, and your fur is a really cool color. He brings some back for me when he goes to conferences.”

 _Whatever_ —expressed by a single, annoyed glance towards Liam.

“Yeah, you probably don’t care,” Liam said. “But it’s good chocolate.”

Theo-the-dog heaved a sigh.

“Fine. Let’s go,” Liam said.

* * *

 

When Liam turned onto the trail towards the river, the dog halted abruptly, nostrils flaring.

“What the—Theo, come on.” Liam turned towards Theo-the-dog, who’d skittered backwards a few more steps. “I have to pick up my mileage if I’m going to get in shape for lacrosse season in the spring.” Then, considering what he’d just said, he muttered, “Not that you care about lacrosse. You’re a _dog._ ”

Theo-the-dog sat down and stared intently at the trail they normally took. Liam rolled his eyes.

“If you don’t want to come with me, fine,” Liam said. “See if I care. You’re just some dog, anyways.”

Telling Theo-the-dog that he didn’t care felt like a lie; nevertheless, Theo-the-dog’s ears flattened against its skull and it slunk away, disappearing into the trees.

Liam rolled his eyes again and ignored the weird achy feeling in his chest as he started running agani.

* * *

 

The next day, neither the blue pickup nor the dog were there.

* * *

 

“I’m worried,” Liam admitted miserably, watching as Scott administered a round of shots to a kitten. “The dog wasn’t there today.”

“Really,” Scott said with a trace of annoyance, but it wasn’t there when he spoke next. “What happened?”

“Yesterday I went onto the river trail like you said, and it wouldn’t follow me, and today it wasn’t there. What if going on the trail made it avoid me?”

“You’re probably overreacting, Liam,” Scott said, ever-patient.

“But what if I’m not?”

“Maybe the dog doesn’t want to go on the river trail, Liam,” Scott said. “Maybe you just need to take it a little slower, and be gentle about it.”

“It’s a _dog_ , Scott,” Liam said. “It shouldn’t care whether I go towards the river or not. It’s just another trail.”

The kitten meowed loudly and Scott gently petted it with a single finger. “Both Deaton and I think that animals should be respected,” Scott said. “For different reasons, of course. Deaton’s a druid, and he’s all about that.”

“What about you, then?”

“When you’re little, all the adults will say the same thing if you treat someone else badly.”

“Treat others like you want them to treat you.”

“Yeah.” Scott’s proud smile warmed something deep inside Liam. “Maybe it’s kind of silly, but I sort of apply a similar principle to animals. Don’t do something to an animal that you wouldn’t do to a human, and of course some things are to completely avoid with animals.”

“Of course,” Liam repeated distantly. _See if I care_ , he remembered saying, and the ache somewhere under his sternum grew. “Okay. Thanks, Scott.”

“Sure thing, Liam. Don’t worry too much, okay? It’ll probably be there tomorrow.”

* * *

 

True to Scott’s word, Theo-the-dog was there the next day, although it looked significantly more bitter about it.

How a dog could look bitter about anything, Liam didn’t know.

Before Liam even started down the trail, he sat down heavily next to the signpost. Theo-the-dog inched closer, ears flattened and lips curled up the slightest bit to show the tips of his fangs.

“I was a dick yesterday,” Liam said. “I didn’t really mean it, okay? You’re kinda like my buddy now, and I didn’t mean to hurt you. If that’s what happened.”

Theo-the-dog huffed. Liam chose to interpret that as _Apology accepted._

“So we’re cool?”

 _Yeah, dumbass_ , Theo-the-dog seemed to say, getting a little closer and bumping Liam’s shoulder with his head. _We’re cool_.

Liam smiled and reached out to pet Theo-the-dog between its ears. It flinched a little, and Liam paused, but then it lifted its head a little and allowed Liam’s fingertips to drag along its soft fur.

“Alright, bud,” he said, lifting himself to his feet. “Let’s go.” 

* * *

 

They started walking the river trail slowly. Theo-the-dog’s ears flattened as they started over the bridge, and Liam figured it was because the old structure creaked a little under their weight. Once they got about halfway across the little thing, Theo-the-dog raced towards the end, then turned to look at Liam like _Come on, what’s taking you so long? That wasn’t a big deal._

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Liam said, and when Theo-the-dog picked up the pace a little, Liam obliged and started running too.

* * *

 

“It worked, Scott,” Liam told his alpha later.

“Glad to hear it. You stink even worse than usual, go get a shower.”

* * *

 

The next day, Theo-the-dog wasn’t there again, and neither was the blue pickup. Liam figured Theo-the-dog’s owner had something to do and didn’t worry too much—at least, not until he was hanging out with Scott at the clinic later and Sheriff Stilinski came in, wearing plainclothes.

“One of the deputies found Theo Raeken’s truck out by the old warehouses,” the Sheriff said, and Scott’s eyebrows shot up.

“Where was Theo?” Liam asked.

“Gone,” the Sheriff replied, and shoved his hands in his pockets. “The front windows were shattered, and there was blood all over the interior. D’you think he would’ve, you know, healed?”

Scott tilted his head, considering. “Depends,” he said. “Any traces of aconite?”

“Haven’t tested for it yet.”

“If there was wolfsbane, he’s probably dead by now,” Scott admitted. “Otherwise, who knows. I could try to track him, but it’s likely he was transferred to another car, if his body was gone.”

“Hey, Sheriff,” Liam asked, a sinking feeling in his gut, “What color is Theo’s truck?”

Sheriff Stilinski raised his eyebrows. “Blue.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry about that--well. Not really.
> 
> Liam probably eventually figures that Scott had a hand in setting him up with his running buddy, but really he's giving Scott far too much credit. It was Stiles' idea.
> 
> Scott to Stiles: Dude Theo won't talk to me and I don't know what to do about it!!!  
> Stiles to Scott: make the puppy deal with it. 
> 
> Should I keep going? I can make this a lot more painful, if you all are interested in that.


End file.
